Online special education tutoring jobs for former teachers and current teachers in Kansas

Side jobs for teachers: tutoring while you teach in a Kansas school

We hire special education tutors year-round. Our greatest need is weekdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern: that is 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Central in most of Kansas, and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mountain in Sherman, Wallace, Greeley and Hamilton counties. Evening and weekend tutors are welcome too: tell us when you can teach. Available hours depend on student demand and schedule fit. You don’t need to cover every grade, subject or time.

If you can fit tutoring around your teaching, we’d like to hear from you.

Remote jobs for teachers leaving the classroom

If you’ve left classroom teaching but still want to teach students with IEPs, 504 plans and learning differences, this job is live, one-on-one online tutoring, one student at a time. SpecialEdResource works with students from pre-K through 12th grade, plus adult learners. It’s part-time W-2 employment, with paid training.

We ask for at least five hours a week of availability, and tutors work 5 to 25 hours a week. Available hours depend on student demand and schedule fit.

You need special education certification and a teaching license, both from any US state, with the license current, or renewed before you start. You also need to live in one of the 15 states where SpecialEdResource can currently employ tutors, and Kansas is one of them. Teachers anywhere in the state can apply.

My Kansas teaching license has expired. Can I still apply?

Yes, if you renew it before you start. Our application’s license question says:

Answer Yes if your license is current, or if it has expired or is inactive and you’ll renew it before you start. We check licenses before the first interview.

In Kansas, licenses are issued through the Kansas State Board of Education, and the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) takes applications and renewals. Its professional license is the Professional (5 year) License. The 2021 text of Kansas’s licensure regulations (the newest official text that could be read) says of it: “Each license shall expire on the license holder’s fifth birthdate following issuance of the license.” and of every license: “Any license may be renewed up to six months before its expiration date.” To renew, KSDE’s license page lists ways to qualify during your current license term, including “Earn 120 points under an approved Individual Development Plan (IDP) filed with your local Professional Development Council.” (with an advanced degree), “Earn 160 points, including at least 80 points from college credit, under an approved IDP” (without one) and “Complete 8 credit hours in an approved program OR finish an approved program.” It adds: “All professional development plans must be approved by your local Professional Development Council.” Applications go through the Kansas Licensure Applications System (KLAS): “You will need to register for/login to KLAS.”

If yours has expired, Kansas’s renewal regulation says: “Any person who fails to renew the professional license may apply for a subsequent professional license by meeting the following requirements:” an application for a license with the licensure fee, and proof that you either met the professional license renewal requirements or have at least three years of recent out-of-state accredited experience under an initial or professional license (K.A.R. 91-1-205). KSDE’s fingerprint page lists “Renewal of an expired Kansas certificate or license.” among the cases that need fingerprints, and says: “Effective July 1, 2024, the fingerprint background check processing fee has increased to $57.” KSDE adds: “KSDE does not keep copies of expired licenses.” “If you need proof of an expired license, please email the Teacher Licensure team for assistance.” If you go back to teaching in a Kansas school district while you finish renewing, KSDE describes a transitional license: “Allows you to accept a teaching position while completing renewal requirements for your expired initial or professional license.” “A nonrenewable license valid for the school year in which you apply.” KSDE lists who it is for, including: “Your license has been expired for at least six months” and recommends that you “do not apply for this license unless you are employed or have been offered employment in a Kansas school district”. Kansas teaching license renewal, step by step, is in our Kansas teaching license guide, with KSDE’s contacts ((785) 296-2288, TLALicense@ksde.gov).

Left a Kansas public school job? What happens to your KPERS account

If you leave a job covered by the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS), you can leave your contributions with KPERS or, if you meet its conditions, withdraw them. For members who leave on or after July 1, 2009, Kansas law grants a vested benefit after five years of credited service (a KPERS 1 member who left before then needed 10 years), and a KPERS 3 member’s own contributions are vested from the day the member joins. If you leave your money in, Kansas law keeps a former employee who has not taken a refund a member “if such member is within five years of termination of employment with a participating employer;” or one who “has not yet received a refund and has been granted a vested benefit;” (K.S.A. 74-4902(21)). It also says that leaving and then working for a participating employer again “within five years after such termination, does not constitute a break in continuous employment if such member has not withdrawn accumulated contributions.” (K.S.A. 74-4917(3)). KPERS’s Membership Guide for KPERS 1 and KPERS 2 Members (Revised 2/26) sorts members by hire date: “KPERS 1: Hired before July 1, 2009” and “KPERS 2: Hired July 1, 2009 - December 31, 2014”. It adds: “If you were hired January 1, 2015, or later, please see kspers.gov for information on KPERS 3 benefits.” For KPERS 1 and 2 members who leave on or after July 1, 2009 without five years of credited service (not vested), the guide says: “You need to withdraw your account balance within five years of the date you end employment.” “After five years, your contributions stop earning interest and you forfeit your service credit.” “If you do not withdraw and you return to covered employment within five years, you will keep the credit for your past public service.” KPERS’s flyer Leaving Employment and Your Retirement System Benefits says, for members who are not vested: “Your account earns interest for five years (two years for KPERS 3 members).”

A withdrawal has conditions, and they differ by tier. KPERS’s flyer says: “If you withdraw your KPERS contributions it is irrevocable. You cannot reverse it.” “Employer contributions stay with KPERS.” Its list headed “Sometimes You Can’t Withdraw” includes “Leave of absence”, “Military service” and “Moving to a position not covered by KPERS with same employer”, and it says: “If any of these situations apply to you, please visit with your employer.” The withdrawal rules for KPERS 1, 2 and 3, a married member’s spouse-consent rule and federal taxes on a withdrawal, in Kansas law’s, KPERS’s and the IRS’s words, are in section 7 of our KPERS working after retirement guide. Questions about your own account go to KPERS (1-888-275-5737).

A special education job outside the classroom

• One student at a time. Each student has sessions with you an average of 2 to 3 times a week, live and online; a session usually lasts 30 minutes, 45 minutes or 1 hour.
• Choosing your students. You decide which students you want to work with.
• Materials. SpecialEdResource provides subscribed online resources and SpecialEdResource-created resources, and you choose and adapt materials for each student, because every child differs.
• Prep and notes. You're paid for tutoring time. Prep and notes are not paid separately; the session rate covers them. SpecialEdResource provides AI summary tools that make note-writing mostly copy and paste.
• Through the year. Most students keep meeting through summer and school breaks.

How hiring and sessions work

How is this different from teaching for a virtual school?

This is tutoring, not classroom teaching: you work with one student at a time, in live online sessions that usually last 30 minutes, 45 minutes or 1 hour, as a part-time W-2 employee of SpecialEdResource. Training is paid, and licenses and special education certification from any US state are welcome.

What the job pays

Starting pay: $23/hour, W-2. All tutors can earn a 10% performance bonus in any pay period when they tutor at least 10 hours and turn in session notes on time. How the pay, bonus and hours work